Apparatus for spraying fluids and mixing the same



Dec. 2, l 92,4,

J. W. STEVENSN APPARATUS FOR SPRAYING FLUIDS AND MIXING THE SAME i921 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Sept l naa.

J. W. STEVENSON APPARATUS FOR SPRAYING FLUIDS AND MIXING THE SAME Filed sept. l 192; s sneersheet 2 J. W. STEVENSON 'APPARATUS FOR SPRAYING FLUIDS AND MIXING THE SAME Filed Sept. l 192) .'5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Dec. 2, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. I

JOHN wILnrAM sTEvENsoN, or maw VALE, ENGLAND.

APPARATUS Fon srnAYrNe FLUIns ANn'MIxmemHn SAME.

Application filed September 1, 1921,` SerialgN'o. 497,789.

ing Fluids and'Mixing-the same (for which I .have filed applications in Great Britain,`

October 22, 1917, application #15340, Patent No. 120,078, dated October 22, 1917; Australia, June A30, 1920, `application #16,350, Patent #16,350 0fi1920, .dated October 22, 1917 New Zealand, June 17, 1920, application #43936, Patent #43936, dated October 22. 1917; Union ofy South Africa, Sept. 20, 1920, application #1046;of 1920,'Patent No. 1046-of 1920, dated September 20, 1920), of .which `the followingvis a specification. f

This invention relates to animproved `apparatus 'forspraying orv atomizing fluids (hereinafterreferred to as fluid forsake of brevity) and, if desired, for heating, cooling or mixing `the same. The type of apparatus concerned is that in which the 4fluid under pressure is admitted tangentially into a drum in which 'it swirls and is then delivered axially through an yorifice in an end Wall ofthe drum. One object ofthe invention is to. avoid the usey of small ports orl orifices for the entry or exit Which are' liable to become clogged particularly` when foul waters are sprayed by such apparatus. Another object is to facilitate the coiling up of the fluid in the drum so that practically all the pressure of the entering fluid is used up for such coiling of the fluid. Such coilingof the fluid cannot be accomplished in accordance with this' invention if V1restricted orifices are employed, and particularly ifi orifices for the inlet of the fluid extend a fraction onlv of thedistance be tween the end walls of the drum. The coiling effect whichV this invention has for its object to secure is similar to the ceiling of the main spring of a time piece. l According to this invention, the inlet orice extends from one end Wall of the drum to the other, or thereabouts, and the cross sectional area of the outlet is approximately equal to, or is greater than, the cross sectional area of such inlet. lPreferably the inlet orifice is oblong with the greater sides parallel to the axis of the drum, and the inlet duct merges from the circular hose or pipe connection at one end into the'oblong shape atthe orifice without reduction 4of the crossl sectional area. In this way, a tape or strip ofliquid, equal in width to the length or depth of the drum, being-intro,- duced tangentiallyas aforesaid, coils itself within the drum, the speed increasing and the pressure diminishing as itl reaches the outlet' .A To increase this ceiling action, the interior of the drum is given a spiral formation hereinafter described, If desired, there may bel more one outlet.

nach maa mayfbe fmished with ai nozzle or series of nozzles. Furthermore, and in orderto enhance circular movement of the'fluid, the closed "end or-bottom` of the drun'i may be provided, in known manner, with aicone, the apex -of which is outwardly directed, approximately concentricv with the "outlet orifice and so constructed and arranged as not to project ,into orl through the outlet.'V In'any case owing to the large area of outlet, the fluid is not in anyway constricted in its exit, conse.- quentlv, the Jtendency Vto 'be atomized is entirelyrunrestricted and in effect an extremely `fine spray or atomization is produced. .If 4two outlet orifices be usedV and it is desired to enhance the circularmotion of the fluid, then two cones may bev emploved, placed base Vto base and integral, if desired andl these cones are conveniently suspended or mounted approximately in the centre of the drum andl with. their yapices pointing towards their; outlets. For cooling. heating, or mxn purposes, a second fluid may be introduce inlknown manner, through holes or ports inthe periphery of the drum. Obviously, the combination of these spraying'devices may be employed so that the spray from one device mpinges on that delivered by-another or others.V

. In order that'the invention lmay be read- .10

ily understood, reference Iis made to the accompanying drawmgs, in which s Figure lis an elevation of an apparatusl i constructed according to'this invention.

:Figure 2 is an end elevation of the same. 105

thany'one inlet and more than .Figure 3` is4 a horizontal section on the i line III-III of Figure '2, and Figures 4, 5, 6 and 7 are diagrammatic sections on the lines IV--IV,'V--V, VI--VI andzVII-VIIrespectivelyof Figure 3. l 171 duct'remaining the same throughout.

Figure 7 is av view, similar to-Fig. 2, of a modified construction. v

Figure 8 is a part sectional elevation of another construction and Figure 9 is a horizontal sect-ion of the same on the lineIX-IX Vof Figure 8.

Figure 10 is a part sectional elevation of a modified construction of drum and Figure 11 is a horizontal section of the same.

Figure 12 is a horizontal-section Showing two inlets removed from each other.

Figure 13 is a sectional elevation of an apparatus having an innerand .outer chamber andY y g Figure 14 is a horizontal section of Figure 13.

Figure V15 `shows inl horizontal section another construction of fluid chamber.

Figure 16 isa sectional elevation of another ,modified construction of apparatus or drum. Y y y v In carrying the 1nvent1on into effect and accordingto one construction, shown in Figures 1 to l7 ,the apparatus or device consists of a .drum a closed at one end and provided at'the other endwith a central opening b surmounted, if .desired and as shownfby a v nozzle b1A having-an internal diameter of. 30v

say,.rather more .than one third of that of the drum a. fThe size of the outlet orifice is dependent on the quantity of fluid to be discharged and on the degree of atomizing. The discharge orifice can be made anything betweenafifth and nearly the full diameter of the drum. If desired, the outlet vor dischar e orifice or orifices may be surrounded l bya ead b2 'or the edge may be quite sharp.

As indicated in Figure 7, the drum may also have avsecond outlet b3 soV` that the spraying orv atomizingl takes place ateach end, in which case, unless the pressure be very high, theinlet c may be somewhat larger in diameter or there maybe two inlets and two outlets. j .The inlet c extends from top to bottom of the drum being preferably relatively narrow and of oblong shape, as shown in Fi re 4. This inlet orifice c is connected with the pipe connection c1 by a duct which is shaped so as to gradually merge the oblong section into the circularas will be readily understood from the lseries of Figures 4 to ,7, the cross sectional area of t'Jlie o facilitateor intensify the. coiling action as aforesaid the interior of the drum is given a spiral formationseen in AFigure 3, and kalso seen in similar views hereinaftery described,

' and the tangential entry ofthe-fluid at the point of maximum radius prevents the entering stream from colliding with or directfrom the dotted spiral lines in Figure 3.

In Figures 8 ,and 9, the cone d is formed or provided on one end wall of the drum concentric with the outlet orifice in the other end wall. The apex d1 is at a height about two-thirds of the height of the drum but, in any case, the height of the cone is less than the height of the inlet orifice. The sides of the` cone ma be straight but, preferably, they are slight y concave as shown at d.

As shown in Figures 10 and 11, the drum may have several inlets close together or merging into one another, as is the case with the inlets o2 c". Or, as shown in Figure 12, the inlets cxs 0 may be removed from each other.' In Figure 12 the lines w1 indicate the films of liquid travelling round the drum, as in the case of the dotted lines in Figure 3.

As shown in Figures 13 and 14, according to another modification and for mixing two fluids, the drum e with inlet c" and outlet orifice b4, is surrounded by or enclosed in another drum as also furnished with an inlet e1 and the inner drum e has a number of tangential ports e2 in its periphery for the entry ofthe liquid from' t e outer drum a.

0r, as shown in Figure 15, there may be one drum e* with tangential inlets e for the admission of air to be mixed with the fluid entering at c.

Instead of the drum a5 being cylindrical, the walls a may, as shown in Figure 16, be curved.' These walls a merge at one end into the cone d2, if there be one, and at the outlet end they are constricted andmerge into the outlet orifice b.

The spraying or atomizing action may be controlled by varying the pressure of the fluid. If desired, the apparatus may be furnished with outlet or discharge nozzles of various sizes, or the said outlet may be constructed so that its cross sec-tional area is variable.

The fluid is admitted under pressure through the inlet or inlets and passes tangentially into the drum or casing and a rcvolving motion is set up due to the cylindrical or curved shape of the drum,-the velocity increasing towards the centre of rotation. The revolving fluid finally emerges through the outlet or1fice or orifices and, being then no longer restrained by the wall of the drum or casing, is, in obedience to the centrifugal force set up, formed into spray or atomized.

Having regard to the fact that this apparatus contains no restricted openings, itis obvious that relatively viscous liquids may be sprayed thereby, that while the inlet. and outlet openings may be of large dimensions, the quantity of uid delivered in atomized form may be relatively small, that foreign bodies may be freely passed through the apparatus without fear of clogging or interfering with the spray, that there are no moving or movable parts to get outl of order and that the motion imparted to the iluid within the drum affords a ready means of effecting -intimate mixing of two or more iuids.

l. An apparatus for spraying or atomizing fluids, comprising a drum having end Walls and a spiral circumferential wall, a tangentially directed' rectangualr inlet on the latter Wall and extending -practically from one end wall of the drum to the other, said circumferential Wall forming an interior chamber, the inner periphery of which forms a spiral having a radius vector gradually decreasing from the outer to the inner end of the spiral, one of said end Walls having an axial outlet.

2. An apparatus for spraying or atomizlng fluids, comprising a drum having end Walls and a spiral circumferential wall, a tangentially directed rectangular inlet on the latter Wall and extending practically from one end Wall ofthe drum tothe other, said circumferential Wall formin an interior chamber, the inner periphery o which forms a spiral having a radius vector gradually decreasing from the outer to the inner end of the spiral, one of said end walls having an axial outlet, the cross sectional area of which is at least approximately equal to that of the inlet to the drum.

3. An apparatus for spraying or atomizing fluids, comprisin a drum having end Walls and a s iral clrcumferentia-l Wall, atangentially dlrected rectangular inlet on the latter Wall and extending practically from one end Wall of the drum to the other, said circumferential Wall forming an interior chamber, the inner periphery of which forms a spiral having a radius vector gradually decreasing from the outer to the inner end of the spiral, each of said end Walls having an axial outlet.

4.. An apparatus for spraying or atomizing iuids, comprising a drum having end walls and a spiral -circumferential Wall, one of the end walls having an axial outlet orifice, said circumferential wall having a plurality of tangentially directed orifices ex- -tending practically from one end wall to the in practically from one end Wall to the ot er, an inlet duct communicating with a certain number of said inlet orifices, and a second -inlet duct communicating with the remainder of said inlet orifices substantially as set forth.

6. Apparatus for spraying or atomizing fluids, comprising a drum having anl axial outlet orifice in one end Wall', and a tangentially directed inlet -duct the port opening of which is oblong and extends practically from one end vWall of the drum to the other the passage i'n said duct lbeing of circular cross section at its outer end and gradually merging without change of cross sectional area into the oblong cross section at its inner end substantially as set forth.

7. In a sprayer comprising a drum having end walls and a circumferential wall forming a chamber the periphery of which constitutes a spiral Whose radius vector radually decreases from the outer to the inner end of the spiral, an axially directed delivery nozzle on one end Wall of said drum, and a tangentially disposed inlet "duct on the circumferential Wall, the port openin of said duct being of rectangular form an extending practically from one end Wall of the drum to the other.

JOHN WILLIAM STEVENSON. 

